Using Digital Traces for User Profiling: the Uncertainty of Identity Toolset
Paul Longley
Professor, Geographic Information Science
University College, London, UK
Monday, December 29, 2014
12 p.m.
Brickyard (BYENG) 210, Tempe campus [map]
Abstract: People manage a spectrum of identities in cyber domains. Profiling individuals and assigning them to distinct groups or classes have potential applications in targeted services, online fraud detection, extensive social sorting, and cyber-security. This talk presents the Uncertainty of Identity Toolset, a framework for the identification and profiling of users from their social media accounts and e-mail addresses. More specifically, in this talk he will discuss the design and implementation of two tools of the framework. The Twitter Geographic Profiler tool builds a map of the ethno-cultural communities of a person’s friends on Twitter social media service. The E-mail Address Profiler tool identifies the probable identities of individuals from their e- mail addresses and maps their geographical distribution across the UK. To this end, this talk presents a framework for profiling the digital traces of individuals.
Bio: Paul Longley (B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., FAcSS) is Professor of Geographic Information Science at University College London, UK, where he also directs the ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre.
His research interests are focused around socioeconomic applications of GIScience, in geo-temporal demographics, retailing, genealogy and urban modelling, latterly often using Big Data analytics.
He teaches Geographic Information Science and Systems and is a co-author of the best-selling book of that name.
He has been involved in: over 50 research grants (totalling over £18 million); postgraduate supervision of 50 Ph.D. students (most funded by research councils); publications, including eighteen books, over 150 refereed journal articles and contributions to edited collections; academic and editorial duties, including past editorship of two journals and current membership of five journal editorial boards; eleven externally-funded visiting appointments and over 150 conference presentations and external seminars; extensive teaching commitments (including strategic roles in two centres of excellence in teaching and learning); and major commitments to administration in three top-rated university departments.
